'We reached a verdict in spite of' Radler
JURORS | Star witness 'covering up for buddy,' but paper evidence was key
The jury convicted Conrad Black even though it didn't buy much of what the prosecution's star witness had to say.
David Radler, the former Chicago Sun-Times publisher, came across as looking out for Black, his longtime pal and business partner, one of the jurors said Friday.
(Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)
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Black guilty
"He was covering up for his buddy," said juror Monica Prince. "He didn't really say much. He kept contradicting himself. He was trying to fool the jury. He was just trying to get through it. He was trying to confuse the jury to cover for Black. We reached the verdict in spite of what he said."
During the trial, Black's attorneys labeled Radler a "serial liar" willing to say just about anything to save his own skin. Radler pleaded guilty to fraud in the case and spent two weeks testifying against Black.
In sometimes-tense deliberations, jurors meticulously sifted through 15 weeks of trial testimony, wanting to be sure they had it absolutely right before deciding Black's fate, another juror said.
"It was stressful, definitely stressful," said juror Tina Kadisak, a 32-year-old hairdresser from Woodridge. "There were some disagreements, but for the most part, we just talked through it all. And it wasn't screaming and yelling. It would just get intense."
Sometimes it seemed as if jurors went back over the same piece of evidence 100 times, Kadisak said.
And what of Black's infamous arrogance -- how did that strike jurors?
"Yes, I saw it," Kadisak said. "Did it impact our decision? Not at all."
Jurors did not convict Black of one of the most serious charges, racketeering.
Prince said the jury didn't find enough "paper evidence," which some jurors insisted on, to prove Black was involved in a pattern of racketeering.
"There wasn't enough evidence there," Kadisak said. "Could I see that it happened? Yes ... but there wasn't proof of it."
On Tuesday, jurors sent out a cryptic note to U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, saying they were "still unable to reach a unanimous verdict on one or more counts." St. Eve told the jury to keep deliberating.
Jurors were struggling with one particular charge, a wire fraud count involving the payment of $4.3 million to Radler from the sale of some U.S. newspapers.
The jury was "pretty well split" on that count, Prince said.
Some of the jurors "weren't budging on that," Prince said. "Some of us went on [the defendants'] actions. What they did and what's on paper are two different things." The jury ultimately found Black not guilty on that count.
Kadisak said she had "expected a little more" out of former Gov. James R. Thompson, who chaired Hollinger International's audit committee during Black's reign and who testified he couldn't remember discussions about key financial transactions.
Prince said she found Thompson believable on the stand and wasn't surprised he missed so much as a committee member.
For Kadisak, the trial offered a fascinating view into the complicated, mostly alien world of corporate finance. But the important details never became too complex to sort out, Kadisak said.
"When the trial first started, it took a little while for [the prosecution's case] to come together," Kadisak said. "But once you heard it all, it was pretty clear."
Kadisak said she learned a lot but has no desire to repeat the experience.
"If I have anything to do with it, it will be my last jury," she said.
Contributing: Stefano Esposito